At this moment, Nibutani Shinka—
It was as if her head had been seized by a berserker's Soul-Gripping Hand, leaving her completely immobile.
Feeling the pressure of the large hand tightening on her head, she closed her eyes and let out a soft cry.
"Ah! It hurts!"
Hiratsuka Ryosuke dragged Nibutani Shinka out from under the table bit by bit.
The three girls hadn't been speaking loudly, so Ryosuke barely caught what they were saying.
The only reason he suddenly grabbed Shinka was because the voices behind her hadn't been small at all.
An "organization"?
And they wanted to recruit Eriri?
It didn't sound like any good place.
Once Ryosuke pulled Shinka out from under the table, he let go.
The two golden-haired lolis also poked their little heads out from under the table to check the situation.
"Geez, what are you doing!" Nibutani Shinka lay on the ground, pouting in dissatisfaction.
"Explain this 'organization' to me." Hiratsuka Ryosuke sat on a stool, looking down coldly at Shinka sprawled at his feet.
Nibutani Shinka tilted her head, her clear golden eyes filled with a touch of confusion. In an innocent voice, she asked in return:
"Eh? Ryosuke, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Ryosuke shifted his gaze to Yamada Elf, who had only stuck her head out from under the table, and asked calmly:
"Elf-sensei, do you know anything about this?"
Sensing the coming storm, Yamada Elf's face stiffened.
She suddenly realized Ryosuke was serious this time—it didn't seem like she could fool him easily.
So she averted her gaze, forced a dry laugh, and muttered softly:
"Ahaha… I don't really know either."
In truth, because she had once betrayed Shinka at the elementary school gates, and had been nagged about it for a long time afterward—
This time, she chose to protect her teammate. After all, she herself was in that "organization," and her position wasn't low.
Ryosuke extended his hand in front of Shinka without the slightest hint of emotion.
"Give me your phone."
Since she had just asked Eriri whether she had hers, it was clear that this "organization" would leave some trace on Shinka's phone.
Nibutani Shinka reluctantly protested:
"Ryosuke, demanding a girl's phone right in front of her… that's really rude…"
But Ryosuke never expected her to hand it over willingly. He simply reached into her pocket and snatched the phone.
"Eh!" she cried out in surprise, reaching desperately for it, but came up empty-handed.
"Give it back!" Shinka pounced on him like a puppy robbed of its bone—
Only to have her head pressed down again by Ryosuke's other hand.
With one hand holding her down, he used the other to check her phone.
Shinka's arms weren't long enough, her two pale hands only flailing helplessly in the air.
The sight of Shinka's misery made Yamada Elf's scalp go numb.
Her pupils shrank as she whispered in awe:
"So strong… is this his newly developed secret technique?"
Eriri's emotions were complicated.
Shinka was a good person. She hadn't mocked her for being an otaku—
And she'd even wanted to invite her into some "organization," to introduce her to more like-minded friends.
Seeing Shinka in such a pitiful state made Eriri's heart ache a little.
Ryosuke opened his childhood friend's phone. There was a lockscreen password.
Her birthday—wrong.
His birthday—wrong.
Ryosuke frowned.
Since when had she changed the password again?
Shinka hated math the most. With her brain, could she really come up with a third set of numbers?
Suddenly, a thought flashed across his mind.
The date they first met six years ago. Correct.
The lockscreen opened. The wallpaper was a photo of him and Shinka together.
Seeing this, Ryosuke's expression softened.
Everyone has their own secrets. Was it really right for him to pry into Shinka's this way?
But recalling that group of lunatics earlier, he couldn't feel at ease. In the end, he tapped open her messaging app.
…Fine. I'll apologize properly to Shinka afterward.
The moment he opened the group chat, a constant flood of "99+" notifications lit up the screen.
Ryosuke's gaze froze on the group's name. He muttered under his breath:
"…The Illuminati?"
Shinka seemed to hear him mutter, and her struggles became more violent—but it was useless.
His usually docile childhood friend was resisting fiercely this time.
Ryosuke frowned. Something about this didn't seem simple.
He opened the chat.
For once, his calm expression cracked. His eyes widened in shock, his pupils constricting.
Over a thousand members?!
This group had more than a thousand people?!
A black vein pulsed on his forehead as he began scanning through the members list.
Leader: Mori Summer (Shinka-sama).
Well, that was expected.
Deputy Leader: Yamada Elf.
Ryosuke turned to look at Elf under the table. She instantly ducked her head back in.
So much for "not knowing." Deputy leader, huh.
Though surprisingly, she dared to use her real name?
No—her real name was Emily Granger. He'd called her "Elf" for so long he almost forgot.
Ryosuke kept scrolling.
Member: Lost Saint Angel.
That name rang a bell. Closing his eyes in thought, then snapping them open, his hand pressing harder on Shinka's head.
"You… you dragged Shouko into this too?!"
I'll deal with you later!
Face dark, he continued scrolling.
Member: Fallen Angel Black Cat of Chiba.
Didn't know them—but they'd even spread the organization into his hometown?!
Ryosuke's scrolling sped up. With over a thousand members, the sheer scale left him shaken.
Finally, he glanced at the latest messages in the chat.
Thunder Hammer Wielder: "Even if Elf regains her power to break the thousand-year seal, the creator of the Dark Testament, Mori-sama, will forever be the greatest existence in this world, death!"
Fallen Angel Black Cat of Chiba: "Short-sighted fool! My curse is the strongest power in this world!"
Assassin: "Eh, you guys are amazing…"
From the chat, Ryosuke finally understood what this so-called organization was.
But wait—that "Assassin"? Was that name in the member list before?
Reading their words again, the tone didn't match the others' chuunibyou ravings at all.
Had they been forcefully dragged in by Shinka and renamed?
But that wasn't the main point right now.
Thinking back to that crazed group of classmates earlier, Ryosuke's thoughts drifted toward the future.
…
Over a decade later.
Nibutani Shinka lay on a bed wearing a bridal veil, cradling a baby girl in her arms. Gazing tenderly at him, she said:
"Ryosuke, shall we name our child Galadriel? Our elven queen has been born."
A few years after that—
"Daddy, why don't we ever go home?" A three-year-old girl tugged at his hand, confused.
Ryosuke didn't answer. With a numb expression, he knocked on the door of a group member's house.
One hand pressing down on Shinka's head, the other holding his daughter's hand, he bowed deeply to the parents.
"I'm very sorry. The reason your child has chuunibyou is all my wife's fault. I sincerely apologize for the trouble she has caused your family."
There was no sweet married life for him.
Because the group members' chuunibyou never healed, he could only go door to door, apologizing to each and every parent.
…
Back to reality. Ryosuke felt his scalp crawl.
No!
Such a future—I absolutely will not accept it!
He turned, staring sternly at Shinka.
Maybe… once this event was over, he should just send Nibutani Shinka straight to the police.
"Ah! Ouch, ouch!" Shinka wailed. Ryosuke loosened his grip out of pity.
Feeling the pressure on her head vanish, Shinka lunged forward and snatched back her phone, her pretty face redder than a ripe tomato.
What she feared most was Ryosuke opening her notes—that was where her biggest secret lay.
Clutching her phone tightly, Shinka's golden eyes shimmered with unease as she stammered:
"Y-you… what did you see just now?"
"You've got quite a lot of people in your 'organization,' Shinka," Ryosuke said coldly.
"You only looked at the group chat? You didn't check anything else?" Shinka asked softly, testing him.
"You've got something else?" Ryosuke narrowed his eyes, looking ready to snatch it again.
Seeing this, Shinka hurriedly hid her phone away.
"Hmph! Of course not! You're terrible, peeking into a girl's secrets like that—way too much!"
She stuck out her pink tongue, pulling a silly face.
Ryosuke raised his hand again as if about to seize it, making her squeak and retreat back under the table.
Shinka was a girl he cherished, and chuunibyou was just something kids her age went through.
For example, Yamada Elf's chuunibyou wasn't spread by Shinka—they were more like kindred spirits drawn to each other.
But Shinka's influence was simply too overwhelming. That was what left Ryosuke uneasy.
Forcibly erasing her innocence was impossible too—that would only hurt her.
He sighed inwardly, worry flashing in his eyes. For now, he could only take it one step at a time.
Under the table—
The two golden-haired lolis saw Shinka return and asked with concern:
"Are you okay?"
Nibutani Shinka shook her head, clutching her phone tightly.
Eriri and Yamada Elf both let out a sigh of relief.
Children's worries came and went quickly, and soon the two were whispering again about doujin topics.
But Shinka couldn't pay attention.
She unlocked her phone. The faint glow of the screen lit her face, turning her noisy self quiet and serene.
Nibutani Shinka sat on the floor, resting her porcelain chin on her knees.
She opened her notes app and began typing.
"Today at Summer Comiket, Ryosuke snatched my phone and lectured me."
After saving, she slowly scrolled up through her past entries.
"Tomorrow I'm going to buy some Magical Girl Meruru merch. Ryosuke said he's going too, so I'll invite him along."
(Note dated one year ago.)
"This year on my birthday, he finally didn't give me a hairpin!"
(Note dated four years ago.)
"Yesterday it rained really hard. I hid in a drainage pipe, but he still came and found me, hehe."
(Note dated six years ago.)
"I was saved by a boy like a knight. Could it be… that I'll be the one he protects in the future?"